Method of forming an embossed foil-covered ceiling panel

ABSTRACT

A conventional ceiling panel covered with a metal foil which is adhered to the edges of the panel. The foil is drawn tight across the face of the panel by lightly embossing the foil face to mechanically shrink the foil over the face of the panel.

United States Patent [191 Peraro METHOD OF FORMING AN EMBOSSEDFOIL-COVERED CEILING PANEL James S. Peraro, Lancaster, Pa.

Inventor:

Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa.

Dec. 19, 1969 Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

U.S. Cl 29/480, 29/DIG. 42, 52/144, 52/599, 52/746, 156/219 Int. Cl.B23k 31/02 Field of Search 52/144, 599, 746; 156/71, 219-220, 216, 295;161/119-120,

147; 29/480, DIG. 42

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1928 Robinson 161/1192/1936 Miller 52/144 6/1936 Pond 52/144 [111 3,771,213 [451 Nov. 13,1973 Caprio et al. 156/219 Primary ExaminerFrank L. Abbott AssistantExaminerLeslie A. Braun Attorney-Clifford B. Price [57] ABSTRACT Aconventional ceiling panel covered with a metal foil which is adhered tothe edges of the panel. The foil is drawn tight across the face of thepanel by lightly embossing the foil face to mechanically shrink the foilover the face of the panel.

1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHUVIIB I975 3,771,213

INVENTOR JAMES S. PERARO ATTORNEY METHOD OF FORMING AN EMBOSSEDFOIL-COVERED CEILING PANEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Fieldof theInvention The invention relates generally to an improved acousticalpanel and, more particularly, to an acoustical panel covered with aprotective covering.

2. Description of the Prior Art U. S. Pat. No. 2,802,764 discloses aceiling panel which has been covered with a plastic film. The film isdrawn tight across the face of the panel by being exposed to heat whichcauses the plastic to shrink and draw itself tight across the face ofthe panel. U. S. Pat. No. 1,837,451 and U. S. Pat. No. 3,074,505 bothdisclose techniques wherein a metallic sheet is placed over a ceilingpanel. The metallic sheet is fastened to the panel by being punched andhaving the edges of the punched openings in the metal grasp the ceilingpanel to hold the metal covering to the face of the ceiling panel. It isalso possible with a rigid enough piece of material to merely place themetal on the face of the ceiling panel and have the edges of the metalcrimped into the edges of the panel to hold the metal relative to thepanel.

The invention herein is directed to a technique that will permit themanufacture of a metal-faced ceiling panel. The technique permits theuse of an extremely thim metal, or foil, and thus provides a saving inmaterial cost. The foil is shrunk to the ceiling panel by mechanicalembossing which provides the technique by which the foil is placedtightly adjacent the ceiling panel and yields a decorative aestheticeffect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is directed to a ceiling panelformed of a basic conventional ceiling board to which there has beenadhered a metal foil. The foil is secured, normally adhesively, to theedge of the panel and extends across the front face of the panel. Thefoil is drawn tight relative to the surface of the panel by beinglightly mechanically embossed. This shrinks the foil and draws it tightand thereby provides a tight rigid metal surface extending across thefront face of the ceiling panel. The foil is unpunched and theacoustical properties are obtained when the foil transmits sound to theprepunched board by vibration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a metalfoil ceiling panel, and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, enlarged, showing the ceiling paneland embossed metal covering.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the metalfoil ceiling panel 2 is composed of a vegetable fiber or asbestos fiberceiling panel 4 which is conventional in the art. Normally this type ofpanel would be provided with a white paint coating and used with thepaint coating facing downward. The invention involves the placing of ametal foil 6 over the front face of the ceiling panel. A good materialto use would be an aluminum foil of 0.0025inch thickness. The metal foilextends across the front face and is adhered at the edges 8 by glue orother appropriate adhering means. Consequently, the metal foil isadhered around its perimeter to the perimeter of the ceiling panel, andthe foil extends across the front face of the ceiling panel. There willbe a slight tendency of the metal foil to sag relative to the centerportion of the front face. Any tendency to sag would be eliminated byshrinking or drawing the metal foil tight across the face of the ceilingpanel. This shrinking of the foil is accomplished by a low reliefembossing roll providing a mechanical embossing to the metal foil on thefront face of the ceiling panel. The mechanical embossing does notpenetrate through the metal foil, but only distorts the foil to draw ittight between the edges which are fastened to the edge of the ceilingpanel.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown the foil 6 extending across aportion of the ceiling panel 4. The foil extends around the corner ofthe ceiling panel and is fastened to edge 8 by an adhesive 10. The foil6, which extends across the face 12 of the panel 4, is not adhered tothe face 12 by any mechanical means. A shallow embossed area 14 isshown. It can be readily seen that when the foil is embossed, a formingof the impressions in the foil will tend to absorb any excess materialthat may exist between two opposite edges of the ceiling panel.Furthermore, these impressions place the foil under a tension whichextends longitudinally through the foil. This is in effect a shrinkingof the foil over the surface of the board. It may be more properlycalled a tensioning of the foil so that it tends to lay in a planeparallel and adjacent the face of the ceiling panel and not sag in adish-shaped plane and hang away from the front face of the ceiling panelwhen it is mounted in position in a ceiling. The ceiling panel may beprovided with punched holes, such as hole 16, for acoustical purposes.Sound waves striking against the foil will cause the foil to vibrate andthe sound will be transmitted to the punched board by the vibration andabsorbed within the holes within the board.

There is now provided a very decorative ceiling panel which will have anembossed effect. The ceiling panel will be relatively easy to clean andmaintain plus it has a metallic coating which will not be stained oraffected by grease or dirt. The panel is capable of having someacoustical properties, and the front surface of the panel is relativelydurable as compared to conventional fiber panels.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of manufacturing a metal foil ceiling panel comprising thesteps of placing a metal foil across the face ofa ceiling panel,adhering the metal foil to the ceiling panel only at the peripheral edgeof the ceiling panel, embossing the portion of the metal foil whichextends across the face of the ceiling panel to mechanically shrink thefoil over the surface of the ceiling panel.

1. The method of manufacturing a metal foil ceiling panel comprising thesteps of placing a metal foil across the face of a ceiling panel,adhering the metal foil to the ceiling panel only at the peripheral edgeof the ceiling panel, embossing the portion of the metal foil whichextends across the face of the ceiling panel to mechanically shrink thefoil over the surface of the ceiling panel.